"You're really going to accept this mission?" Orochimaru asked in his low, hoarse voice. A trace of puzzlement flickered in his eyes.
"This choice doesn't quite match your usual temperament. Are you… changing?"
Some things could only be seen clearly from the outside. Orochimaru was one of the people most adept at discerning the core of human nature. Judging from Hagoromo's past personality and actions, he was not the sort of shinobi who would voluntarily take responsibility upon himself.
No matter how strong he was, everything Hagoromo had done so far amounted to fulfilling the duties of a Konoha ninja. Anything beyond duty—what one might call contributing to the village—was never something Hagoromo had actively pursued.
So why was he now willing to shoulder a responsibility that clearly lay outside his obligations?
That was what Orochimaru could not quite understand.
In Orochimaru's eyes, although Hagoromo was only fourteen years old, his personality was already remarkably mature. On the surface, Hagoromo seemed to lack any special ambitions—but that also meant the village held no absolute restraint over him. This alone made him different from ordinary ninja.
Within Konoha, there were only a handful of people and matters that Hagoromo truly cared about. If one day he were to leave the village because of some special circumstance, Orochimaru would not find it surprising at all.
Born under the same system and educated in the same way, some people could never escape the bonds of the village, while others were never bound by them in the first place.
Hagoromo was clearly the latter.
At this point in time, Orochimaru still viewed everything from Konoha's perspective.
Was Hagoromo trying to place that bond upon himself voluntarily?
No.
He simply wanted to do something.
"I'm still just an ordinary person," Hagoromo said calmly.
"And ordinary people—whether by choice or by circumstance—are always changed by certain influences."
At those words, Orochimaru let out a strange chuckle, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
At times, he felt that Hagoromo was fundamentally similar to himself—detached, even cold. Yet at other times, when faced with the same situation, the two of them would arrive at completely different conclusions.
"You're very strong," Orochimaru continued.
"Even ignoring your age, as a shinobi you're already powerful enough. But strength alone isn't sufficient. Being strong doesn't mean you can handle everything."
He paused briefly.
"You've already seen what happened to Suna's Pakura. For a village—whether it's your own or the enemy's—assassination, betrayal, and covert schemes are everywhere."
"And since you've chosen to accept this mission, its danger level is naturally S-rank. Even with your strength, the probability of death exceeds eighty percent. Once you enter Kirigakure, the power of choice will no longer be in your hands—it will be in theirs."
Facing an entire hidden village, Orochimaru believed even he himself would likely die. Hagoromo would be no exception.
In fact, this mission was even more dangerous than the assassination of the Raikage. Back then, Hagoromo had infiltrated Iwagakure disguised as one of their own, moving alongside their invasion force.
This time, he would be entering Kirigakure openly, as a shinobi of Konoha.
Hagoromo shook his head. Some of Orochimaru's words were valid, but others did not fully align with his own judgment.
"I have my own assessment of the mission's risks. Since I'm willing to take it on, I naturally have a degree of confidence in ensuring my own survival," he replied.
"Besides, those are only potential dangers. If Kirigakure is willing to seek peace with Sunagakure, then perhaps Konoha will be treated the same way."
Even as he said it, Hagoromo himself didn't entirely believe that these were merely "potential" dangers.
Orochimaru was judging the mission's risk based on the strength Hagoromo displayed on the surface. But if Hagoromo were truly pushed to the brink, even he didn't know how far he could go.
If necessary—if he unleashed everything—he might even be capable of techniques that could annihilate a tailed beast in an instant. The cost would be enormous, and success far from guaranteed, but it was not impossible.
It was based on this comprehensive judgment that Hagoromo voluntarily accepted the role of Konoha's envoy to the Land of Water and Kirigakure.
Despite having personally witnessed Pakura's fate, he hesitated very little before accepting this mission.
After extracting all relevant intelligence from Pakura, Konoha began to reassess Kirigakure's stance in the war and saw a possible opportunity for peace between the two villages.
After brief deliberation, Konoha secretly conveyed its willingness to negotiate peace to Kirigakure. Sending an envoy was the first step.
Kirigakure's response was swift. They quickly replied and agreed to receive a Konoha envoy.
And therein lay the danger.
As Orochimaru had said, once the envoy entered Kirigakure, their life and death would be entirely at the mercy of the other side.
Kirigakure's attempts to seek peace with both Iwagakure and Sunagakure suggested two possibilities:
Either they were preparing to gradually and completely withdraw from the war—
Or the exact opposite: they intended to eliminate all future concerns and then focus their full strength on Kumogakure and Konoha.
The odds were fifty-fifty, and Konoha had no way of knowing Kirigakure's true intentions. But intuitively, the latter seemed more likely.
After all, Konoha had thoroughly infuriated Kirigakure.
Not long ago—and even now—Konoha had raided a thousand-man Mist outpost, sent shinobi deep into the Land of Water to sabotage from within, and annihilated Kirigakure's elite force, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Kirigakure may have held a grudge against Sunagakure, but their hatred for Konoha ran far deeper.
"If you believe there's no problem," Orochimaru finally said,
"then as you wish. I'll entrust this matter to you. There aren't many shinobi capable of carrying out such a mission anyway."
Once Hagoromo had made his decision, Orochimaru would not stop him. Even if a "genius" chose to walk into death, Orochimaru might regret it—but he would not interfere.
Of course, the mission would not begin immediately.
First, such matters required a complex series of procedures. At the very least, Hagoromo needed the Hokage's written authorization.
Second, Hagoromo himself needed to prepare. This was a high-risk mission, and he had to be mentally ready for the worst possible outcome.
Which meant he needed something akin to weapons of mass destruction—
A batch of high-powered "grenades": Reaper Four Symbols Seal (Dead Demon Consuming) Seal (Dead Demon Consuming) Seal scrolls.
Drawing sealing formulas on scrolls was nothing new to Hagoromo. But the Reaper Four Symbols Seal (Dead Demon Consuming) Seal (Dead Demon Consuming) Seal was an extremely aggressive sealing technique that consumed massive amounts of chakra.
Without preparation, even with a pile of scrolls, he could only activate a few before his chakra was completely drained.
So Hagoromo modified the technique.
The key change was sealing his chakra into the formula in advance, storing it temporarily. That way, when the time came, he would only need to perform the hand seals to activate it, avoiding the risk of instant chakra depletion.
As a result, during the days leading up to the mission, Hagoromo was in a constant state of "feeling completely hollowed out."
Working like a small personal workshop, producing two per day, he eventually created twenty Reaper Four Symbols Seal (Dead Demon Consuming) Seal (Dead Demon Consuming) Seal scrolls.
Although the pre-sealed chakra gave them a limited shelf life, they would last long enough for the mission.
If combat became unavoidable, Hagoromo planned to throw these directly into Kirigakure.
If he were surrounded?
Then he would throw them straight into the densest clusters of enemies. The results would be devastating.
Because the scrolls already contained chakra, they were effectively on the verge of detonation at all times. Hagoromo handled them with extreme care—he had no intention of turning his own weapons into a suicide bombing.
If one of them activated on his body, he'd be the first to die.
By the time the Hokage's authorization arrived, Hagoromo's preparations were complete.
Soon after, on a certain morning, he set out from the camp and began walking step by step toward the Land of Water.
It would be his third journey there—another venture whose outcome was impossible to predict.
There were exactly three witnesses to his departure.
"Huh? Isn't that Hagoromo?"
"What's he doing heading out so early?"
"He's probably not going on a mission…"
These voices belonged to the trio saved by Might Duy: Ebisu, Genma Shiranui, and Guy.
The last line came from Guy, who knew Hagoromo best.
"He's probably going somewhere to test a new technique again," Guy added.
"Hagoromo likes experimenting with high-powered jutsu. If he were going on a mission, he'd be wearing that white mask he always carried."
Guy didn't know that Hagoromo no longer needed that mask.
Hagoromo did not expect Kirigakure to welcome him with goodwill. He could even imagine enemies already lying in wait along the road.
But at this moment, he possessed an unwavering confidence:
If he wished to go to Kirigakure—no one could stop him.
And if he decided to leave—
no one could stop that either.
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